Conrad Hall Presentshttp://themarketingspotlight.com
Making small business marketing simple, automatic and profitableSat, 04 Feb 2017 19:54:14 +0000en-UShourly1For everyone who knows small business marketing and a happy life go hand in hand. Conrad Hall gives practical, proven guidance for a more profitable local business and a happy life. He explores joint venture, how to write a book, personal empowerment practices (PEP), and other practical actions for growing your small business and getting a happy life.Conrad HallcleanConrad Hallsupport@TheMarketingSpotlight.comsupport@TheMarketingSpotlight.com (Conrad Hall)Conrad HallThe Place Where Small Business and Happiness ThriveConrad Hall Presentshttp://www.themarketingspotlight.com/conrad-hdsht-3000x3000/http://themarketingspotlight.com
support@themarketingspotlight.comFor everyone who knows small business marketing and a happy life go hand in hand. Conrad Hall gives practical, proven guidance for a more profitable local business and a happy life. He explores joint venture, how to write a book, personal empowerment practices (PEP), and other practical actions for growing your small business and getting a happy life.TV-YBirmingham, ALWeeklyListener Questions Answeredhttp://themarketingspotlight.com/listener-questions-answered/
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:32 +0000http://themarketingspotlight.com/?p=672http://themarketingspotlight.com/listener-questions-answered/#respondhttp://themarketingspotlight.com/listener-questions-answered/feed/0Welcome to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy. A listener question that has been coming up a lot lately is “How do I connect social media with the rest of my marketing?” Smart business owners are wanting to let their social media contacts know they have a print newsletter. It’s their most […]Welcome to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy.

A listener question that has been coming up a lot lately is “How do I connect social media with the rest of my marketing?”

Smart business owners are wanting to let their social media contacts know they have a print newsletter. It’s their most powerful marketing tool, and they want to move potential customers onto a mailing list. When you consider that over 70% of people still prefer to marketed to through mailed promotions, you can see how these business owners are definitely on the right track.

So we start the show off this week with how to connect your offline and online marketing. There are several things you can do to move people off social media sites (EXTREMELY good idea since you don’t own the list when it’s on a social media site), and there’s one particularly important thing you should NOT do.

Making this one mistake can completely destroy your efforts to move people onto your mailing list.

“Showrooming” is becoming such a large problem for the big box retailers that Target recently sent a letter to its suppliers asking them to come up with special items exclusively for Target.

(Showrooming is going into a store to see the item you want, then purchasing it online through your smart phone while standing in the store.)

They have the right idea – they’re looking for the solution. And they’re trying to eliminate price comparison shopping by having exclusive items. But they’re trying to solve the wrong problem.

We have no loyalty to these big box retailers precisely because they don’t care about us. They have zero customer service, and their employees know little about the store and almost nothing about specific products.

On the bright side, this presents a huge window of opportunity for you to step in and fill that customer service gap. Listen to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy to find out how.

Then we wrap up the show with another listener question I’ve been getting frequently over the last few months: How do we use the online business listings?

The truth is that online business listings represent some excellent low-hanging fruit. Google and all the other search engines are putting a lot of time and energy into making Local Search useful to us a searchers and as business owners. So it makes sense to take advantage of the free business listings.

This week, I walk you through which listings to go after first. All the search engines talk to each other, so getting a few of them right takes care of any others you might miss.

You also have a lot of options for the types of content you can include with online business listings. This is a case where less is more, and there’s one type of content you definitely want to avoid including with any online business listing. Listen to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy to know what it is.

]]>Welcome to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy. A listener question that has been coming up a lot lately is “How do I connect social media with the rest of my marketing?” Smart business owners are wanting to let their social media conta...Welcome to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy. A listener question that has been coming up a lot lately is “How do I connect social media with the rest of my marketing?” Smart business owners are wanting to let their social media contacts know they have a print newsletter. It’s their most […]Conrad Hallclean37:51Social Media Reality Checkhttp://themarketingspotlight.com/social-media-reality-check/
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:00:54 +0000http://themarketingspotlight.com/?p=668http://themarketingspotlight.com/social-media-reality-check/#respondhttp://themarketingspotlight.com/social-media-reality-check/feed/0There’s a lot coming at us in 2012. From mobile marketing and social media, and from an election and poor economy. So we need to be prepared to make good use of our marketing and advertising dollars. This week, we start with a social media reality check. Yes, mobile phones and social media are growing […]There’s a lot coming at us in 2012. From mobile marketing and social media, and from an election and poor economy. So we need to be prepared to make good use of our marketing and advertising dollars.

This week, we start with a social media reality check.

Yes, mobile phones and social media are growing presences in the marketplace. They are, however, no where near as big as the cow-pattie gurus want you to believe they are. The idea that you “must have” a Facebook Page or risk losing out to your competition is poppycock. And the numbers back me up – listen to the show and check my sources for yourself.

You can listen right away by streaming the audio, or click “Download” and take the show with you on your phone, tablet or MP3 player.

We also take a quick look at a company that’s doing social media very well. It’s Collective Bias, and their primary social media tool is blogging. All of their results are trackable, and highly profitable, so it’s worth paying attention to what they’re doing.

Then we take a look at the truth for what it takes to attract an audience.

Would you be willing to sit and watch a 45 minute video of two scientists discussing Systems Biology? Me neither, but Dr. Hidalgo has an audience of thousands. We take a look at how he has done it, and why you’re able to do the same thing for your business.

And we wrap up the show with how you can use technology trends to benefit your own business.

The Consumer Electronics Show – one of the largest consumer shows of during the year – ran from Jan 10 – 13. There were some decidedly non-tech companies at the show, and they were very smart to be there. You need to know why, and how to follow their example. So listen to this week’s show.

You can listen to right now by clicking the Play button, or hit “Download” and take the show with you on your laptop, phone or tablet.

And please do tell me what you think of the show. Is it entertaining and informative, or do you think I’m full of wind? Leave a comment here, or send me an e-mail at listeners@theconradhall.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

]]>There’s a lot coming at us in 2012. From mobile marketing and social media, and from an election and poor economy. So we need to be prepared to make good use of our marketing and advertising dollars. This week,There’s a lot coming at us in 2012. From mobile marketing and social media, and from an election and poor economy. So we need to be prepared to make good use of our marketing and advertising dollars. This week, we start with a social media reality check. Yes, mobile phones and social media are growing […]Conrad Hallclean37:15Predictions 2012http://themarketingspotlight.com/predictions-2012/
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:00:54 +0000http://themarketingspotlight.com/?p=655http://themarketingspotlight.com/predictions-2012/#respondhttp://themarketingspotlight.com/predictions-2012/feed/0Welcome to 2012, and the first episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy for the year. This week, I’m making some predictions. Nine of them, with maybe a bonus one thrown in at the end because “10” sounds so much better than “9.” We kick off with an economic prediction for 2012 because business owners […]Welcome to 2012, and the first episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy for the year.

This week, I’m making some predictions. Nine of them, with maybe a bonus one thrown in at the end because “10” sounds so much better than “9.”

We kick off with an economic prediction for 2012 because business owners are always interested in what the economy is doing, right?

Prediction #2 is about Cause Marketing. We’ll see it rise in 2012, and I give you a couple of
good examples to follow. Plus a key piece of advice for making Cause Marketing work for you.

Prediction #3 – The Rise Of The Machines – or at least digital assistants. You too can have the crazy person look by talking to your technology. But all joking aside, I think programs like Siri are great. Although they’re likely to reduce productivity, and increase the frequency of bathroom conversation.

Prediction #4 – A resurgence of print media. Specifically, I think we’ll see the “zine” come back into vogue. It’s already a popular style among bloggers, and now it’s making a comeback in the streets. Listen in to this week’s show to hear what I mean and how it can help you.

Prediction #5 – This one is easy. It’s hardly a prediction…The convergence of smart phones and laptops. There has been some interesting progress with “ultrabook” laptops, but I think the real progress is coming from motion controlled games like Kinect.

Prediction #6 – Time Wasting is on the Rise. There are more ways to buy smoke and mirrors than ever before. You need to be prepared so you can cut the time wasters out of your business.

Prediction #7 – Micro-Employees Arise – Ever have an emergency and need something done quickly? There’s a service for that. TaskRabbit and Zaarly are just two services that enable you to hook up with a micro-employee to get something done.

Prediction #8 – Online Spending is going up – but not necessarily for you. There’s no question more people are making use of the ability to shop online. I very much enjoy being able to order from Amazon and get free shipping with their Prime service. But online spending is going to merchants that people know and trust, so I have some useful guidance for you to get – and keep getting – those online purchasing dollars.

Prediction #9 – What prediction show is complete without a reference to the Facebook IPO? Regular listeners know I’m less than a fan of Facebook, and I’m not changing my opinion.It’s useful for you to know what’s going to happen, and that Facebook simply can’t avoid it.

Prediction #10 -yes, there really are 10. You know I’d never do 9 and leave you hanging like that! But you do have to listen to find out what #10 is. (Hey, I have to keep you through to the end, right?)

And I’ll give you a heads up about the show length this week. There’s a lot to cover here, and I set aside the 30 minute time limit. This show goes for just over 50 minutes, so download it and listen at your convenience. The shoot me an e-mail at conrad AT theconradhall DOT com to tell me what you think. And you’re always welcome to leave a comment here.

]]>Welcome to 2012, and the first episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy for the year. This week, I’m making some predictions. Nine of them, with maybe a bonus one thrown in at the end because “10” sounds so much better than “9.Welcome to 2012, and the first episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy for the year. This week, I’m making some predictions. Nine of them, with maybe a bonus one thrown in at the end because “10” sounds so much better than “9.” We kick off with an economic prediction for 2012 because business owners […]Conrad Hallclean56:13